Member activity
Russia: Konfop magazine 'SPROS' to close as subscribers look to the internet
21 Sep 2011
Consumers International member organisation Konfop of
Russia is to close its magazine 'SPROS' after 19 years.
Russian consumers move to new media
In a letter announcing the closure, Irina Vinogradova, the
Editor-in-chief of SPROS, pointed to the world economic downturn
since 2008 as a major contributing factor to the demise of the
magazine, which began publication in 1992. She went on to
highglight that while "publishing expenses and ditribution costs
grow continously", an increasing number of subscribers in Russia
are turning away from the printed word to online sources of
information.
Access for all consumers
Konfop also points out that the magazine's subscription price is
already the highest at which it can be feasibly set. Material from
the magazine has been available free of charge at schools and
libraries to enable access to those who couldn't afford a
subscription.
A history of product testing
In the last 10 years, the magazine has seen 50 comparative tests
a year, consisting of reviewing more than 500 products. These
were featured on Russian TV and radio,
Thanks
In the letter, Konfop thanks specific consumer organisations for
their support, such as Stiftung Warentest of Germany. Special
thanks are made to individuals, stating that "During the most
difficult periods of our life we have been supported by American,
British and Dutch consumer organisations, that haven't allowed the
magazine to be closed. We thank personally Allister McGeorge, Rhoda
Karpatkin, Anna Filder and many other colleagues from the national
consumer organisations for their invaluable
help and personal participation."
Read the whole letter by Konfop announcing the
closure of SPROS magazine here (English).
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